Drunk man ‘went to wrong house’

A couple, sitting watching television, were alarmed when a drunken man tried the door handle of their home.

Gavin Whiteley, who was so inebriated he was taken to hospital, claimed to have gone to the wrong house, believing it was his home.

The 26-year-old, of Fraser Avenue, appeared from custody and admitted entering a garden in Hillend Drive on October 6, and trying to open a house door handle, placing the occupants in a state of fear and alarm.

Depute fiscal Keith O’Mahony said the couple had been watching television around midnight when they heard the door handle being tried.

They went to the window and looked into the garden where they saw the accused, looking back at them.

Police found him nearby and he was so drunk he was taken to hospital.

“The couple were alarmed by his behaviour,” added Mr O’Mahony.

Defence solicitor Rory Bannerman said the two streets ran back to back.

“He was significantly drunk and went to the door of the wrong house,” said Mr Bannerman.

The solicitor said his client had already spent 17 days in custody, which had proved a “salutary lesson”.

Sheriff Donald Corke admonished Whiteley, telling him: “Although you did alarm these people, it was through drunkenness rather than anything else, and you have spent 17 days in custody as a result.”

Breaching probation cost Daryl Wilson a 120-day jail term

At Selkirk Sheriff Court, Wilson, 22, of Laidlaw Terrace, admitted a breach of probation imposed for a shoplifting offence.

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